PET (B1) Listening Practice Test 2

Section 1

Question 1

Girl

So you found your mobile phone then …

Boy

Yeah, I spent most of yesterday evening looking everywhere for it, including in my dad’s car. I was sure it’d fallen out of my pocket when he gave me a lift home from school, but I was wrong. Of course, I never thought of checking the pocket of my jacket, which is where I noticed it this morning! I’d begun to think I’d left it in the drawer of my desk and I’d find it when I got to school.

Girl

At least you’ve got it back.

Question 2

Girl

How much longer is the game on for?

Boy

I thought you liked basketball …

Girl

I do - love it, but my team’s not playing today, and anyway, it’s nearly time for Life Beneath the Waves - there’s a special report on whales.

Boy

Don’t you and Dad want to watch that quiz show you like, Ask Me Another? You usually have a competition to see who can get most questions right.

Girl

True, but I’m sure he won’t mind missing it for just this time.

Boy

I guess not. OK, what time does it start?

Girl

Now!

Question 3

Boy

How was the zoo?

Girl

I really enjoyed it - there were so many different animals to see. My favourites are usually the penguins. My little brother and I laugh so much when they walk around the pool - they look so funny! It’s a shame that they were all in the water, swimming yesterday - because it was so hot, I suppose. So it was the monkeys playing in their tree that were the biggest attraction for me this time, although seeing the baby elephant with its mum came a close second.

Question 4

Girl

Which character are you in the school play?

Boy

I’m the main character’s father. I need to look much older than I am, so I have to wear a suit and glasses. The director said my character should have long, fair, curly hair, so I have to put that on, too.

Girl

I’m sure your short dark hair would look just as good.

Boy

Maybe, but you have to do what the director says. He tried to make me wear a moustache, but it kept falling off, so we gave up that idea.

Question 5

Announcer

And now for the weather. A lot of cloud will move in from the west later this morning, bringing heavy rain to all parts of the country by early afternoon. Driving in these conditions will be quite difficult, so take care on the roads. This rain will be accompanied by strong winds, which will stay with us over the next few days, but overnight, any remaining rain will clear away, leaving clear skies everywhere. The sunny weather should stay until the day after tomorrow, when, unfortunately, the rain returns.

Question 6

Girl

Hi, I was just calling about going clothes shopping together tomorrow. I’m still OK to meet at two, but I think I’d prefer it if we didn’t meet at the clock in the town square as we’d arranged - you’re always late and there’s nothing to do there. So how about seeing each other at the café? At least I can have a snack while I’m waiting. We could just meet at the clothes shop, but I’d probably finish my shopping before you got there - I know what you’re like!

Question 7

Girl

Did you get that book you wanted for your music classes?

Boy

I did. I went into town after school today and got it then. It was on special offer too, so it was reduced by two pounds from seventeen pounds ninety-nine to fifteen pounds ninety-nine. I know we saw it on the internet for less than that - it was thirteen pounds ninety-nine, I think - but I really need it for my class tomorrow and there’s no way it would arrive in time.

Girl

Well, I’m just glad you found it.

Section 2

Question 8

Girl

I enjoyed that.

Boy

Me, too. I don’t think either of them played a wrong note in the whole performance.

Girl

I think I heard a few - perhaps they hadn’t had enough time to play together before the concert.

Boy

Maybe. I still wish they’d played a little longer, though - maybe a few more songs.

Girl

I thought it was about right as it was. That kind of music sounds so much better in a smaller place - I don’t know why they chose to have it there.

Boy

The two guitars are too quiet for somewhere that size.

Question 9

Girl

That was an amazing play.

Boy

It was. Over half the people watching were school students like us.

Girl

I guess that’s not so unusual for an afternoon performance. Most adults are working then.

Boy

I wonder what it’s like being an actor. They must have to practise so hard.

Girl

The ones in this play certainly had. I found it difficult to believe how realistic they managed to make all of the characters.

Boy

Yes, and I couldn’t predict what would happen at the end.

Girl

I studied this play in literature classes last year, so I already knew what was going to happen.

Question 10

Girl

How was the art course?

Boy

Fantastic - I learned so much.

Girl

So what was the best bit?

Boy

There were so many, but if I could only choose one, I think it’d be how the teacher got us to practise techniques in a number of different ways. I thought I’d spend most of the time drawing or painting, but we did so many other activities, all of which were quite useful for developing our skills.

Girl

Sounds good.

Boy

And I never knew there were so many jokes about artists! Our teacher seemed to know them all, which was great fun.

Question 11

Boy

Are you walking to school with us tomorrow?

Girl

I might go on my own, actually. I don’t want to be late.

Boy

But you’ll enjoy it more if you come with us.

Girl

It’s often no different to walking by myself because you all walk slowly along with your headphones on.

Boy

We show each other things on our phones, too.

Girl

That’s true, which is great in our free time, but not when it means arriving half an hour later than I would if I was by myself. At least you’re polite enough to move out of the way for other people on the pavement, though.

Question 12

Girl

How’s your new house?

Boy

I like it. The colours aren’t what I’d ever choose, but my mom says we can easily fix that. My bedroom’s much bigger than the one at the old house, which annoyed my brother as his is quite small - like the rest of the house.

Girl

I thought people usually moved to be somewhere bigger …

Boy

Sure, but where it is is important, too, and the new one’s much closer to my parents’ work and to school, too. I can walk there in five minutes, which means I get to stay longer in bed in the morning.

Question 13

Boy

How was your weekend?

Girl

Good, thanks. We went for a day out by the river.

Boy

The river near here? It’s easy to walk to, but it’s not like there’s lots to do there.

Girl

I know. That’s why we went somewhere else, about an hour away in the car. It’s dangerous for swimming because the river’s really deep and wide there, but we’ve never found a better place to sit and eat. I know you’d probably prefer somewhere which has lots of activities, but it’s really peaceful, so we just sit on the grass, enjoy our food and relax.

Boy

Sounds nice.

Section 3

Teacher

Listen, everyone! I’ve got some information about this year’s school photography competition. As you’ll probably remember, last year’s competition asked you to focus on the topic of travel, but photos should have something to do with the environment this time.

Teacher

As in previous years, there are certain things that we want the photographs to include. We want all the pictures to have wildlife in them, so we’re not looking for photos that only show landscapes or people.

Teacher

The head teacher has decided to ask someone from outside the school to judge the competition this year. She was hoping that local artist Sally Graves would be able to judge the entries, but she’s actually away at that time. Writer James McKay has agreed to help us instead. I’m sure many of you have heard of him, as he’s quite famous and was born not far away from here, too.

Teacher

It was felt that most keen photographers already have the photography books or equipment they need, so the organisers have decided that the winner will receive a photography course run by Central College instead. The College was also hoping to have a small photography exhibition for winners of all the school photography competitions in the area, but their gallery’s too busy putting on other shows, I’m afraid.

Teacher

The winner of the competition will be announced on 11th March. If you wish to enter, please make sure we receive your photos by 15th February, as the judging will take place on 19th February.

Teacher

So if you’re interested, send your entry to the school secretary, Mrs Mitchell, not to me or the head teacher. I’ll give you her email address - it’s k dot Mitchell, that’s spelt M-I-T-C-H-E-double-L at school dot com. Good luck!

Section 4

Woman

Callum, you have a popular book review website. How did you learn about setting up a website?

Callum

I first learned to write computer programs when I was eleven. We created instructions in class to control a little robot. My mum works in IT, though, and she showed me how to use similar skills to create my own pages online. There are hundreds of websites about this too, but I found them quite confusing.

Woman

Why did you decide to set up a book review website?

Callum

I’d seen an article about teenagers not reading enough and was wondering about possible solutions to this. My best friend’s into video games and writes reviews for various websites. These sites seem to encourage teenagers to play more games, so I thought it must be possible to do the same with reading. It’s nice to see teenagers exchanging opinions about literature, rather than video games!

Woman

How did you feel when your site first went online?

Callum

I was nervous, of course, but I couldn’t believe how well it worked. But even when a site looks as good as mine did, you can never be sure that people will like it. And if it ends up not being popular, there’s no way you’ll achieve what you’ve set out to do with the site.

Woman

You have school, your website and a social life - what’s a typical day like?

Callum

You’d think I’d never have a chance to relax, wouldn’t you, but it’s rarely that busy. I certainly don’t have many opportunities to get bored, as everything I do throughout each day is so different. I make a plan each evening for what I want to achieve the next day, which I usually stick to.

Woman

What would you like to be doing when you’re 18?

Callum

Many website designers have ambitions to join one of the huge technology businesses based in the USA. I want to stay close to my family in Canada, though. I’ve thought about studying computer science. However, I learn better by doing than by studying, so I’d prefer to have my own web design company than go to college.

Woman

Tell us about your new website …

Callum

I wanted to create something about music. When I looked online, I found very little on how music supports people through difficult times and how sharing stories about this benefits others, so that’s what I’ve done. There are so many sites for uploading your own songs, or for finding out how to play guitar, or whatever, but I wanted something different.

Woman

Thank you, Callum!

Part 1

Questions 1–7

Part 2

Questions 8–13

Part 3

Questions 14–19

School photography competition

Part 4

Questions 20–25

Listening test help

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